Ike’s Love and Ownership

Ike’s Love and Sandwiches is a Bay Area staple, and it’s built on love. When we heard how Ike does his own internal work and helps his team live out their values, we knew we had to share their story as a beautiful example of Ownership Culture.

I lost track of how many hugs I saw in my time at Ike’s. The second time I visited, a local employee literally came out of the store to hug someone from Ike’s personal team who was making a visit. After a few conversations with Ike Shehadeh, it became obvious that they are deeply living out their core principles of love, respect, and appreciation. 

We started going deep when Chu Shin (cofounder of Wisdom Partners) began asking questions about Ike’s paper bags. (See picture.) Chu naturally recognized the deep heart behind this. 

First, the Love

Ike explained that he grew up with a lot of love in his family, and he returned love to others by making sandwiches - all kinds of sandwiches, out of all kinds of leftovers. But through an unfortunate series of events as a young adult, he ended up without a home, living in his friend’s van. After rotating through some adventures as a professional poker player, a lingerie salesman, and realtor, he realized his true passion is sandwiches.

In 2007, his little 400 square foot “Ike’s Place” in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco quickly became the busiest restaurant in town. Within six months, there were literally lines going blocks down the street. 

I asked Ike’s mom, Huda, what she was thinking when Ike’s restaurant took off and became famous overnight. She said, “I wasn’t thinking anything! I was working the cash register the whole day. Sometimes, when I got home at night, I couldn’t even get out of the car!” (Adorably, she is now also a regular fixture at grand openings and special events.)

Love was in the business from the beginning. When major news outlets around the country began interviewing Ike and asking why his little sandwich shop was so successful, an insight slowly dawned on him. It was all about the love. Ike and his team just cared more about the food and the customers. They loved the customers through their love for the food. 

As Ike began to expand beyond the first few locations, he leaned into that motif by rebranding as “Ike’s Love and Sandwiches.” As Ike explains, “It’s love and then sandwiches. Really, you’re coming here for the love, and you also get a sandwich.” We asked Ike how he was able to build a culture of love, respect and appreciation into his business, and he shared two fantastic examples of Ownership Culture that were the motivation for this article. 

Soul-Searching through Sandwich-Making

First, when Ike was training new people in the art of sandwich-making, if he noticed that someone was skimping on the sauce and missing the corners, he would start a conversation with them. (Sauce is really important to Ike, and I love that about him - and his sandwiches!) 

Ike might start simply: “Hey, you missed the corner of the bread with that sauce.” 

If they said anything other than, “Oh, my bad, let me fix that,” then the training moment began. First he would say something like, “That’s not very loving. That customer deserves sauce on the whole sandwich, all the goodness in every bite.”

Then, he would start to probe and pull at what was behind the slip-up. “Why did you feel the need to give them less than the best? … You’re in a hurry? There’s a long line? Do you think those people care if their sandwich comes 20 seconds later? … You’re having a hard time at home? OK, take the day off and go home if you need to do that, but if you’re here, make this sandwich your meditation. If you’re here, be fully here, and join us in showing love to our customers.”

For Ike, putting out a good sandwich is fundamental for the customers and the team. According to Ike, “We are each accountable for our own actions, and I’m not willing to let others off the hook for that.” If we aren’t giving our best, then that impacts how we feel about ourselves. But if we’re putting our best into every sandwich and every task, then that also impacts how we feel about our work, our workplace, and ourselves. And that impacts everything about how we perform and how successful we are as individuals and a company. 

Owning his Own Struggles

In those first few years, Ike told a few employees to “get the %&@# out of here if you don’t want to make that sandwich the way that we need to make it!” Slowly, thanks to some critical self-reflection and some helpful feedback from others, he began to ask himself if he was really living up to his values. 

He wondered, “Actually, while I’m advocating for love for other people, am I really loving my people? … hmmm … Oh, I should change that.” (For the record, Ike is promising “free sandwiches for life” to any of those few early employees who got a tongue lashing!)

In addition to doing his own inner work to become more present and compassionate, Ike also realized he needed to level up his leadership chops. I asked Ike how he went from a guy in a busy store to a guy running a hundred shops. After 8-9 months, looking at the lines going down the block outside his SF shop, he thought, “This is going to be a billion dollar company … I need to become a better leader.” 

He started reading books and seeking mentors. He started crashing business classes at Stanford. He got a free pass because he brought sandwiches, and his face was on the wall at the Stanford Ike’s. The turning point was admitting that he had stuff to work on even while his business was going great. 

One of our Wisdom Partners taglines is: We help leaders evolve, so they can help their companies evolve, so we can make the world better together. When Ike heard this, he thought back to his moment of self-awareness, and he said, “Man, if I had been searching on the internet and it said, ‘Evolve yourself and evolve your company,’ I would have been like, ‘Oh! How do they know?! Let me sign up instead of doing it the hard way.” Thanks, Ike!

Never climb alone.

Apply to join one of our CEO Frontier Forums or ask for a free assessment.